The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and The Return – L.J. Smith

These are the second and third books in the Vampire Diaries series. They are actually the last lot that were published in the 90’s. Everything that came after was published after 2009. I guess it would be fair to say that these two are the end of the original plot/arc. The ending is pretty solid too. I reckon that if no more books had been published it wouldn’t have been that bad. I also misspoke in my previous review, this first quartet were in fact written by L.J. Smith, it is the next few books after that have been ghost written. The last four I believe or something like that were written by a named author who wasn’t L.J. Smith. Now that I have clarified my mis-step, we can moveo n with the review.

These two were longer than the previous two and I honestly can’t remember if Elena is even alive/part of the first book? I’ve just done a quick read of the Vampire Diaries Wiki and have been informed that The Fury is the book where Elena becomes a vampire and then is killed by Katherine. Sorry for the spoilers, but this book did come out almost 30 years ago. I feel like you’ve had a chance to catch up by now. So yeah, the Fury focusses on the vampire Elena and the trio’s battle with Katherine, of course accompanied by their human pals and Bonnie, who isn’t quite human? At least that’s what the TV show suggests. I’m not sure which to follow or if I should combine the two and use the books as the main source of lore with the series to fill in the gaps?

The second book brought Klaus to the forefront and whilst he wasn’t the Klaus of the show, he was still a great big bad. Obviously I am slightly in love with The Originals Klaus, but this Klaus was good too. I will admit that I am pretty sure I thought Katherine had said that she killed Klaus in the previous book, but oh well I guess? That must have been a red herring.

These books worked well together. It was nice to see the mc shift to Bonnie with Elena out of the picture. Although Bonnie’s character is really bad in the books, it was nice to see her be treated better than she is in the show. And Matt. I really like that he is part of it now. He is the new third member to Bonnie and Meredith. As he should be. I have decided that I adore both book Matt and TV show Matt. He deserves better and I am glad that so far he has managed to stay human in the books and that he stays human in the show.

I honestly think that this book series is the epitome of teenage girl vampire novels. They came out a few years before the Twilight Saga and honestly the only comparison points for the two are the fact that there are vampires and werewolves etc, but that’s more of a genre issue. I honestly don’t know what point I’m trying to make here, maybe that this series is actually better? Or healthier? For young girls? I don’t know. I mean, when comparing the two main characters, Bella is a wet wipe when compared to Elena. Elena is actually in charge of her own destiny and speaks up for what she wants. Bella just kind of goes along with what she thinks is best for everyone else. This is definitely not the main issue with Twilight, but it has made me think, that if I had a young daughter I would definitely encourage her to read the Vampire Diaries over Twilight. Hmmm. Maybe something to explore more in depth at a later date.

Obviously I’m going to give this duet 4 stars. It’s not groundbreaking and I didn’t wizz through it, but that’s mostly because as I write this I should really be packing to go back to uni… I am currently reading the next book and I can’t wait to finish it. It’s about 300 pages longer than the previous 4, so I anticipate it’s going to take me a while. But once that review has come out, keep an eye out for my revie of Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney, because that is my next read and my god I am so excited to get to it!!

Chloe

Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle – L.J. Smith

I am back on my bullshit. After reading A Little Life, I needed a break and had to read something meaningless and light. Of course that meant I was re-reading the Vampire Diaries series. I also started re-watching it and let me tell you, the series is so much better than the books. And pretty much all they have in common are characters and titles, the rest is so different.

So, I have read these books before, I read them in 2014 and I think I got quite far through the series. I decided a couple of years back to buy the books and have a re-read and it has taken me this long to get to this point… I actually don’t own all of them. I own 1+2, 3+4, 5, 8, and 12. So if anyone is willing to fill in the gaps for me that would be great. I want to be able to say that I have read all of them, like the Morganville Vampires series, which is actually incredible and if I had more time on my hands I would definitely have re-read them all by now.

Anyway. I will have to be honest the tv series is much better than the books. Maybe it’s because they were created 18 years apart, but maybe not. Maybe it’s just because the book was written by a ghost writer. Which it was, just in case anyone thinks I’m joking. This series and I think all others under the name L.J. Smith are written by ghost writers. I respect that because it’s giving writers work and money and we really need both of those.

Elena is interesting. And the whole doppelganger thing is kinda different to the show. I’ll be honest, this series has been out longer than I’ve been alive so I’m not too worried about spoilers.

The characters are all different between the two mediums. Bonnie is the same but different and there is no Margaret or Meredith. And of course Elena doesn’t become a vampire so soon as the books. The history of Stefan and Damon is different, but their characterisations are pretty much the same. Stefan is still a bit of a wet wipe tbh. I think I will always prefer Damon for Elena and then Stefan for Caroline, although to the best of my memory Caroline plays quite a minimal role after the third or fourth book. I guess you will find out when I write my next post.

The books is filled with your typical insta-love and teen pining expected of a book written for teen girls at that time. There is a love triangle, well, it’s less of a triangle as Damon and Stefan aren’t also pining over each other. It’s more of a tree diagram of love with Elena at the top and Damon and Stefan as two of the branches.

Matts character is actually pretty much the same. The only thing that’s different between the two medias is his surname and the fact that the actor who plays Matt in the tv series looks like he’s at least 30. I mean I get that they had to cast the actors as older than their characters, but this is just a touch ridicolous. Matt has always looked at least 25 and as the series goes on, he just gets older and older and it’s kind of funny at this point. I mean I’m only on season 3 of the series and he already looks so old. At least as the years pass he starts to look more appropriately aged.

What is it with this series and dances being so deadly? Both the TV show and the books series uses dances as an excuse to cause violence and it is honestly ridiculous. Why can’t these teens just enjoy a single dance in peace. I am so glad my town is reasonale on the supernatural front. Sure there are things that I’m pretty sure can’t be explained away the way they have been, but that’s none of my business. Living in the country side both encourages and discourages you from getting into people’s business. Honestly, also glad I’m not American, that seems to put you more at risk of living in a town over taken my supernatural beings, the TV show Supernatural evidence enough of that.

I have given this book, omnibus, collection? 4 stars and I actually really enjoyed reading something lighter after fighting through A Little Life which brought me nothing but pain and heartbreak. Not that I didn’t enjoy every second of it of course. This is a light series and if you enjoy this genre I can highly recommend both the books and the TV series, although if you struggle to follow plot lines I wouldn’t consume them at the same time as it might get confusing.

Chloe

A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara

This is not a review, this is a PSA. This book should only be read when your mental health is in the best state of your entire life and it should be read in a couple of sittings. This is not a book to savour and to draw out. This is one to rush through and to get to the end of so you can rip the plaster off. It is painful and sad and hearthbreaking and I have still not gotten over it. I read this whopper of a book in a week and I honestly don’t know if I will ever read it again as much as I want it to be the only book I consume for the rest of my life. This book broke me in more ways than I can name and I cried myself to sleep upon finishing it. Please do not listen to people who tell you to read it. Google the trigger warnings and then make the decision for yourself because this book has every chance to drive you over the edge. It should have won the 2015 Man Booker Prize and it is almost as much a travesty as the book itself that it didn’t. I can’t wait to read her first book.

I would give anything for Jude to be happy.

Chloe

The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch

So I have finally gotten around to reading this masterpiece. I think it came out in 2005 and so whilst I wouldn’t have read it then, due to being 5, but I feel like I could have gotten there before I hit the ripe old age of 20… This book is pretty much exactly as good as the hype around it suggested it was. I will say that I am not sure if I want to read the rest of the series. I have Big Book Fear™ and so facing this book – which is over 500 pages and therefore bigger than most of the books that I have read recently – was kind of scary and also a relief. I’m glad that I have managed to check it off my to-read list. Also, the next book that I am reading, which I might not review on here, is over 700 pages long and therefore even scarier. The nook is A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and I may not review it because it might actually destroy me. I’ll get back to you on that. But anyway, back to this incredible book. I kind of can’t believe it’s a debut. It’s too good.

I kinbd of adore Locke Lamora. Although I kind of hate the ending. I think that his actions felt really out of line with his character and the development he went through during the book. The character arc made no sense Lamora definitely wouldn’t have become such a good generous person. It made him seem very selfless which just did not fit with who he was during the entire book.

Spoilers in this section: The killing of his friends was just wrong. Especially of Bug who was a literal child. Yes I understand why it was done, but it definitely felt senseless. And the killing of the twins was harsh. I am glad Jean got revenge by killing the grey king’s sisters. But it was all kind of a lot. I really enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes I do wonder if these authors forget about the capabilities of the human body. Sometimes it did feel like Jean and Locke should have just collapsed from the pure stress of it all. Also, whilst I do appreciate that Locke did in fact pass out, he also then recieved multiple injuries and he really should have been in too much pain to move. So idk, I get that it’s fantasy, but it’s fantasy with human people. Surely some of the same rules should still apply? No? Or maybe Lynch just doesn’t really care and you know what, I actually respect him for that haha.

No spoilers now. This book was actually really good and whilst it definitely couldn’t have been shorter, I do wish it had been. This book is a beast. 500 + pages and my god, those pages were packed. Small font, right to the edge of the printing lines. It was a lot. Much like other series, I don’t think I’m going to go out of my way to read the rest of it. If I see the books in the charity shop I will most likely pick them up, but otherwise probably not tbh. And that’s fine. I really cannot afford the space or the money to buy more books.

I honestly cannot remember what I rated this book but it was probably 4/5 stars? Maybe 5? Goodreads knows. Oh well, I liked the characters and the pacing, but my god it was so long and it felt like the author didn’t know what he was doing some of the time, which is honestly a mood. If you can get easy access I would for sure read this book, it is a fun adventure and the exploring a new city is fun, especially when it’s fantasy. The world building was very good. That I can say for sure.

Chloe